Practice Areas : Financial Services
The last decade has been a watershed era for the
financial services sector in India. The reforms process progressively
opened up banking, mutual funds and insurance to the private sector
after four decades of almost total government control.
These changes have changed the landscape of the
financial services industry. Up until 1997, a single state owned
asset management company managed 90% of all assets in the mutual
funds industry. Today, the situation has turned full circle with
private mutual funds managing about 80% of the assets. Some 35 AMCs now provide over 800 diverse
funds to Indian investors.
Insurance and banking similarly have witnessed
unprecedented changes. With the opening up of the insurance sector
in 2001, a dozen new companies backed by strong multinational brands
have entered the life insurance market which was hitherto the preserve
of the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India. General
insurance has similarly seen a number of new entrants challenging
the four state-owned companies.
In the last ten years, the opening of the banking
sector to private investment has seen a number of successful new
entrants. The share of business of state-owned banks has fallen
during this period from 89% to 77%.
The changes brought about by reforms has also significantly
impacted the players in the capital markets. The entry of foreign
brokerage houses and the consolidation in the business has forced
thousands of traditional Indian brokerages out of business. The emergence of the National Stock Exchange has made some 26 regional
stock exchanges virtually defunct. At the same time, a host of new
business opportunities have created hundreds of players providing
services ranging from commodity exchanges to internet trading and from
instant money transfer to dematerialisation of securities.
In this new marketplace, understanding the competitive
environment is the first step to developing a winning strategy. Positioning
a firm within the new marketplace and then communicating that positioning
are the next two steps. We help our clients – banks, mutual
funds, insurance companies, brokerages, rating agencies, online
investment sites and other asset consolidators - do all three and
become winners.
Our successful track record in product and service
marketing, both retail focused and business to business is a result
of our ability to communicate intangibles – ideas, points
of view and expertise - in addition to hard news. Our close relationships
with key writers in mainline business and financial media stretches
across the country. With our network of branches in each of the key Indian states, we are able to provide a national reach to
any marketing communications program.
The Adfactors PR team brings another unique advantage
to its clients. Our key executives present a unique blend of expertise
that combines experience of the financial services domain with
communications knowledge.
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